1. Identify and discuss the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, sometimes called the Earth Summit, was the culminating document that came out of the The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development that took place at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.[1] Consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the world, the Rio Declaration reaffirms the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted at Stockholm on 16 June 1972, and seeks to build upon it.[2] Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our home, the Rio Declaration’s first principle is both the overall statement of intent as well as a powerful statement for the whole of the international community. It states that, “human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.”[3]
The remaining 26 principles of the Rio Declaration are:
- “Principle 2 - States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
- Principle 3 - The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
- Principle 4 - In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.
- Principle 5 - All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world.
- Principle 6 - The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority. International actions in the field of environment and development should also address the interests and needs of all countries.
- Principle 7 - States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit to sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command.
- Principle 8 - To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.
- Principle 9 - States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies.
- Principle 10 - Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.
- Principle 11 - States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and development context to which they apply. Standards applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries.
- Principle 12 - States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic system that would lead to economic growth and sustainable development in all countries, to better address the problems of environmental degradation. Trade policy measures for environmental purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade. Unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the importing country should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing transboundary or global environmental problems should, as far as possible, be based on an international consensus.
- Principle 13 - States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their jurisdiction.
- Principle 14 - States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the relocation and transfer to other States of any activities and substances that cause severe environmental degradation or are found to be harmful to human health.
- Principle 15 - In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
- Principle 16 - National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.
- Principle 17 - Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national authority.
- Principle 18 - States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or other emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of those States. Every effort shall be made by the international community to help States so afflicted.
- Principle 19 - States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant information to potentially affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse transboundary environmental effect and shall consult with those States at an early stage and in good faith.
- Principle 20 - Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.
- Principle 21 - The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be mobilized to forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a better future for all.
- Principle 22 - Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development.
- Principle 23 - The environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination and occupation shall be protected.
- Principle 24 - Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development. States shall therefore respect international law providing protection for the environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further development, as necessary.
- Principle 25 - Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible.
- Principle 26 - States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
- Principle 27 - States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the fulfillment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further development of international law in the field of sustainable development.”[4]
According to Deborah Leipziger, “although the Rio Declaration is addressed to nation-states, it introduced key concepts that are echoed in many” of the international tools including the Global Compact. Furthermore, the Rio Declaration defined two key principles – the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle – that are key elements of many environmental standards.”[5]
2. Identify and discuss what is meant by the Natural Step.
According to the Natural Step website, the organization is “a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to education, advisory work and research in sustainable development.”[6] Founded in Sweden in 1989 by scientist Karl-Henrik Robèrt the Natural Step has “worked with thousands of corporations, municipalities, academic institutions and not-for-profit organisations that have proven that moving strategically toward sustainability leads to new opportunities, reduced costs, and dramatically reduced ecological and social impacts.”[7] Following a national consensus about “what is in principle needed to sustain the human civilization on earth,”[8]
In a paper that Dr. Robert wrote in 1991 entitled ‘Educating A Nation: The Natural Step’, The Natural Step is described as a “network of experts from various fields who are attempting to find out how much can be accomplished by using scientific consensus as the basis for decision-making in human society. The network includes scientists, economists, teachers, environmental activists, politicians, business leaders, artists, and others who are all contributing to a mutual effort for a future based on respect for natural laws.”[9]
The Natural Step approach to sustainability begins with four simple scientific observations:
- Matter and energy cannot be destroyed (the 1st Law of Thermodynamics)
- Matter and energy tend to spread spontaneously (entropy, the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics)
- Biological and economic value (quality) of matter is in its concentration and structure
- Net increases in material quality on Earth are generated almost entirely by the sun-driven process of photosynthesis[10]
Putting the two laws of thermodynamics together and applying them to the global environment, the following facts become apparent:
- All the matter that will ever exist on earth is here now (First Law).
- Disorder increases in all closed systems and the Earth is a closed system with respect to matter (Second Law). However, it is an open system with respect to energy since it receives energy from the sun.
- Sunlight is responsible for almost all increases in net material quality on the planet through photosynthesis and solar heating effects. This flow of energy from the sun creates structure and order from the disorder.[11]
Following the four simple scientific observations, The Natural Step developed Four System Conditions of Sustainability In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:
- concentrations of substances extracted from the earth's crust;
- concentrations of substances produced by society;
- degradation by physical means; and, in that society. . .
- human needs are met worldwide.[12]
Mr. Robert then worked out a first version of system conditions for sustainability and a planning method that later evolved into and became known as The Natural Step Framework (or the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development). In general, The Natural Step Framework takes people beyond the arguments of what is and is not possible; or what may be politically left or right wing. Instead, the Framework builds on a “basic understanding of what makes life possible, how our biosphere functions and how we are part of the earth’s natural systems.”[13] Rather than get lost in abstract definitions and causes, The Natural Step “builds on a platform of basic science and is designed to allow true interdisciplinary, cross sector cooperation for concrete and measurable change towards sustainability. After all, if you want to achieve ‘success’, you have to first understand what this means in real terms before you can then take strategic
[2] Ibid.
[5] Leipziger, Deborah. The Corporate Responsibility Code Book. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing Limited, 2003. Page 308.
[7] Ibid.
